There is a large, reddish-flowered shrub just north of the barns at
Nisqually that seems to be crawling with Rufous Hummingbirds this time of
year. We keyed it out this past weekend and IDed it as a Reddish Currant
(Ribes sanguineus). In Bent's account of Rufous hummer he cites someone from
western Washington to the effect that these hummers seem to time their
arrival to coincide with flowering of this native currant, and that male
hummers often base their territories around it.

Do any Seattle/suburban tweeters have a Reddish Currant in their yard,
and if so, do Rufous hummers flock to it?

David Wright
dwright at u.washington.edu